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Thursday, February 15, 2018

COUGAR WOMEN BB TAKE GAME 1

REGINA, Sask. – The University of Regina’s women’s basketball team took a double-digit lead after the opening quarter and never looked back, defeating UBC by an 85-70 score in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The duo of Kyanna Giles and Charlotte Kot again led the way for the Cougars. Giles tied for the game high with 20 points, led all players with seven assists, and also pulled down six rebounds while Kot added 19 points and six rebounds in the win.

The Cougars used a quick 10-0 run over two minutes late in the first quarter to build up a double-digit lead, a surge that was capped by one of Sara Hubenig’s three triples in the opening period. Regina led 24-13 after one and held a double-digit lead for almost the remainder of the game. The Cougars went ahead by 23 points midway through the third quarter and while UBC scored the next 12 points to get back to within 11, the visiting Thunderbirds weren’t able to get any closer.

“I thought we were inconsistent defensively tonight, which we can’t afford against a team with three talented scorers like UBC has,” Regina head coach Dave Taylor said. “Offensively, when we got out and ran we did good things but we’ll have to make sure we do a better job tomorrow in an elimination game.”

Three other Cougars hit double figures in scoring besides Giles and Kot. Hubenig finished with 12 points – all of which came on her four three-pointers – while Christina McCusker also scored 12 and Carolina Goncalves added 10 points. Hubenig also had a team-leading seven rebounds and five assists for the U of R.

Maddison Penn was 6-for-11 from the field including 3-for-4 from three-point range and led UBC with 20 points. Penn also had seven rebounds, while Keylyn Filewich had 15 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double.

The series continues on Friday night (7:00) at the CKHS. The Cougars will be attempting to book an early ticket to next weekend’s Canada West semifinals, while UBC will try to force a third and deciding game which would be played on Saturday.